This invention relates generally to techniques for significantly increasing the tread life of matched pairs of vehicular tires and more particularly to techniques for increasing the tread life of matched pairs of vehicular tires by matching the effective tread diameters of the vehicular tires of the matched pair.
When vehicular tires are used in pairs such as the dual wheels on trucks and trailers they are commonly called "duals". The tread life of these duals is significantly affected by the difference in the diameter of the tire treads of the duals and is commonly referred to in the industry as tire mismatch. Since the circumferential length of the tire treads is a direct function of the tread diameter, one of the tire treads of the mismatched pair microscopically slides along the rolling surface over which the duals are moving. This mismatch causes rapid wearing away of the tire tread of one of the duals, usually the smaller diameter tire tread, which not only reduces the tread life of the tire tread that is constantly sliding on the road surface but also on the tire tread of the other tire of the matched pair.
Various attempts have been made to more accurately match the tires of duals by measuring the circumference of the tire tread. While this technique has increased effective tire tread life, the lack of accuracy of such measurement has prevented the achievement of the desirable tire tread life in the matched pair of tires. Secondly, this prior art technique has also depended on the skill of the operator in determining the effective tire tread circumferential length which has resulted in significant variance in the tire tread life when the matching of the matched pair of tires was attempted.